Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 111, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1916 — Page 3

The SEA WOLF

by JACK LONDON

SYNOPSIS. Humphrey Van Weyden, critic and dilettante, finds himself aboard the sealing schooner Ghost, Captain Wolf Larsen, bound to Japan waters. The captain makes him cabin boy “for the good of his soul." Wolf hazes -a seaman and makes it the basis for a philosophic discussion with Hump. Hump’s intimacy with Wolf increases. A carnival of brutality breaks loose in the ship. Wolf proves himself the master brute. Hump is made mate on the hell-ship and proves that he has learned “to stand on his own legs.” Two men desert the vessel in one bf the small boats. A young woman and four men, survivors of a steamer wreck, are rescued from a small boat. The deserters are sighted, but Wolf stands away and leaves them to drown. Maude Brewster, the rescued girl, begins to realize her danger at the hands of Wolf. Van Weyden realizes that he loves Maude. Wolfs brother. Death Larsen, comes on the sealing grounds in the steam sealer Macedonia. “hogs” the sea, and Wolf captures several of his boats. The Ghost runs away in a fog. Wolf furnishes liquor to the prisoners. He attacks Maude. Van "Weyden attempts to kill him and fails. Wolf is suddenly stricken helpless by the return of a blinding head trouble, and with all hands drunk and asleep \an Weyden and Maude escape in a small boat together. They land on Endeavor island.

CHAPTER XXV—Continued. “Oh," was all she replied; but I could have sworn there was a note of -disappointment in her voice. But “my woman, my mate” kept ringing in my head for the rest of the day and for many days. Yet never did it ring more loudly than that night, as I watched her draw back the blanket of moss from the coals., blow up the fire, and cook the evening meal. It must have been latent savagery stirring in me, for the old words, so bound up with the roots of the race, to grip me and thrill me. And grip and thrill they did, till I fell asleep, murmuring them to myself over and over again. It was a dark and evil-appearing thing, that hut, not fit for aught better than swine in a civilized land; but for us, who had known the misery of the open boat, it was a snug little habitatibn. Following the housewarming, which was accomplished by means of seal-oil and a wick made from cotton calking, came the hunting for our winter’s meat and the building of the second hut. It was a simple affair, now, to go forth in the morning and return by noon with a boatload of seals. And then, while I worked at building the hut, Maud tried out the oil from the blubber and kept a slow 'lire under the frames of meat. I had heard of Jerking beef on the plains, and our seal meat, cut in thin strips and hung in the smoke, cured excellently. The second hut was easier to erect, for I built it against the first, and only three walls were required. But it was work, hard work, all of it. Maud and I worked from dawn till dark, to the ilimit of our strength, so that when night came we crawled stiffly to bed and slept the animal-like sleep of exhaustion. And yet Maud declared that she had never felt better or stronger in her life. I knew this was true of myself, but hers was such a lily strength that I feared she would break down. Often and often, her last reserve force gone, I have seen her stretched flat on her back on the sand 4n the way she had of resting and recuperating. And then she would be up on her feet and toiling hard as ever. ■ Where she obtained this strength was the marvel to me. “Think of the long rest this winter," was her reply to my remonstrances. “Why, we’ll be clamorous for something to do.” ; We held a housewarming in my hut the night it was roofed It was a pleasant evening indeed, and we voted that as a social function on Endeavor island it had not yet been eclipsed. Our minds were at ease. Not only had we resigned ourselves to the bitter winter, but we were prepared for it. The seals could depart on their mysterious Journey Unto the south at any time, now, for all we cared; and the storms held no terror for us. Not only were we sure of being dry and warm and sheltered ifrom the wind, but we had the softest and most luxurious mattresses that could be made from moss. This had ibeen Maud’s idea, and she had herself I jealously gathered all the moss. This was to be my first night on the mattress, and I knew I should pleep the sweeter because she had made it. As she rose to go she turned to me with the whimsical way she had, and said: "Something is going to happen—is happening, for that matter. I feel it. Something is coming here, to us. It is coming now. I don’t know what, but it is coming." “Good or bad?" I asked. She shook her head. “I don’t know, but it is there, somewhere.” She pointed In the direction of the sea and wind. “It’s a leq shore,” I laughed, "and I am sure I’d rather be here than arrlving, a night like this.” "You are not frightened?’' I asked as I stepped to open the door for her. Her eyes looked bravely into mine. "And you feel well? perfectly well?” "Never better," was her answer. We talked a little longer before she went. •♦Good night, Maud,” I said.

“Good night, Humphrey,” she said. This use bf our given names had come quite as a matter of course, and was as unpremeditated as it was natural. In that moment I could have put my arms around her and drawn her to me. I should certainly have done so out in that world to which we belonged. As it was, the situation stopped there in the only way it could; but I was left alone in my little hut, glowing warmly through and through with a pleasant satisfaction; and I knew that a tie, or a tacit something, existed between us which had not existed before. -• CHAPTER XXVI. I awoke, oppressed by a mysterious sensation. There seemed something missing in my environment. But the mystery and oppressiveness vanished after the first few seconds of waking, when I identified the missing something as the wind. When I had dressed and opened the door, I heard the waves still lapping on the beach, garrulously attesting the fury of the night. I had slept late, and I stepped outside with sudden energy, bent upon making up lost time as befitted a dweller on Endeavor island. And when outside, I stopped short. I believed my eyes w>thout question, and yet I was for the moment stunned by what they disclosed to me. There, on the beach, not fifty feet away, bow on, dismasted, was a black-hulled vessel. Masts and booms, tangled with shrouds, sheets, and rent canvas, were rubbing gently alongside. I could have rubbed my eyes as I looked. There was the home-made galley we nad built, the familiar break of the poop, the low yacht-cabin scarcely rising above the rail. It was the Ghost. It came upon me suddenly, s strange, that nothing moved aboard. Wearied from the night of struggle and wreck, all hands were yet asleep. Maud and I might yet escape. I would call her and start. My hand was lifted at her door to knock, when I recollected the smallness of the island. We could never hide ourselves upon it. There was nothing for us but the wide raw ocean. I thought of our snug little huts, our supplies of meat and oil and moss and firewood, and I knew that we could never survive the wintry

It Was the Ghost.

sea and the great storms which were to come. And then, in a flash, the better solution came to me. All hands were asleep. Why not creep aboard the Ghost —well I knew the way to Wolf Larsen’s bunk —and kill him in his sleep? After that —well, we would see. But with him dead there was time and space in which to prepare to do other things; and besides, whatever new situation arose, it could not possibly be worse than the present one. . My knife was at my hip. I returned to my hut for the shotgun, made sure it was loaded, and went down to the Ghost. With some difficulty, and at the expense of a wetting to the waist, I climbed aboard. The forecastle scuttle was open. I paused to listen for the breathing of the men, but there was no breathing. I cautiously descended the ladder. The place had the empty and musty feel and smell usual to a dwelling no longer inhabited. Everywhere was a thick litter of the worthless forecastle dunnage of a long voyage. I noted that the boats were missing. The steerage told the same tale as the forecastle. The hunters had packed their belongings with similar haste. The Ghost was deserted. The reaction from my fear, and the knowledge that the terrible deed I had come to do was no longer necessary.mademe boyish and eager. I" sprang up the break of the poop, and saw —Wolf Larsen. What of my Impetus and the stunning surprise, I clattered three or four steps along the deck before I could stop myself. He was standing in the companionway,

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

only his head and shoulders risible, | staring straight at me. His arms were resting on the half-open slide. He made no movement whatever —simply stood there, staring at me. I began to tremble. The old stomach sickness clutched me. I put one hand on the edge of the house to steady myself. My lips seemed suddenly dry and I moistened them against the need of speech. Nor did I for an Instant take my eyes off h(m. Neither of us spoke. There was something ominous in his silence, his immobility. All my old fear of him returned and by new fear was increased a hundred fold. And still we stood, the pair of us, staring at each other. I was aware of the demand for action, and, my old helplessness strong upon me, I was waiting for him to take the initiative. Then, as the moments went by, it was at last impressed upon me that I was there, not to have Wolf Larsen take the initiative, but to take it myself. I cocked both barrels and leveled the shotgun at him. Had he moved, attempted to drop down the companionway, I know I would have shot him. But he stood motionless and staring as before. And as I faced him, with leveled gun shaking in my hands, I had time to note the worn and haggard appearance of his face. It was as if some strong anxiety had wasted it. The cheeks were sunken, and there was a wearied, puckered expression on the brow. And it seemed to me that his eyes were strange, not only the expression, but the physical seeming, as though the optic nerves and supporting muscles had suffered strain and slightly twisted the eyeballs. All this I saw, and my brain now working rapidly, I thought a thousand thoughts; and yet I could not pull the triggers. —I- lowered the gun and stepped to the corner of the cabin, primarily to relieve the tension on my nerves and to make a new start, and incidentally to be closer. Again I raised the gun. He was almost at arm’s length. There was no hope for him. I was resolved. There was no possible chance of missing him, no matter hoW poor my marksmanship. And yet I wrestled with myself and could not pull the triggers. “Well?” he demanded impatiently. I strove vainly to force my fingers down on the triggers, and vainly 1 strove to say something. "Why don’t you shoot?” he asked. I cleared my throat of a huskiness which prevented speech. “Hump,” he said slowly, "you can’t do IL You are not exactly afraid. You are impotent. Your conventional morality is stronger than you. You are the slave to the opinions which have credence among the people you have known and have read about Their code has been drummed into your head from the time you lisped, and in spite of your philosophy, and of what I have taught you, it won’t let you kill an unarmed, unresisting man.” “I know it,” I said hoarsely. "And you know that I would kill an unarmed man as readily as I would smoke a cigar,” he went on. You know me for what I am —my worth in the world by your standard. You have called me snake, tiger, shark, monster, and Caliban. And yet, you little rag puppet, you little echoing mechanism, you are unable to kill me as you would a snake or a shark, because I have hands, feet, and a body shaped somewhat like yours. Bah! 1 had hoped better things of you, Hump.” He stepped out of the companionway and came up to me. “Put down that gun. I want to ask you some questions. I haven’t had a chance to look around yet. What place is this? How is the Ghost lying? How did you get here? Where’s Maud?—l beg your pardon, Miss should I say, ‘Mrs. Van Weyden’?” I had backed away from him, almost weeping at my inability to shoot him, but not fool enough to put down the gun. I hoped, desperately, that he might commit some hostile act, attempt to strike me or choke me; for in such way only I knew I could be stirred to shoot.

“This is Endeavor island/’ I said. “Never heard of it,” he broke in. “At least, that’s our name for it," I amended. “Our?” he queried. “Who’s our?” “Miss Brewster and myself. And the Ghost is lying, as you can see for yourself, bow on to the beach.” “There are seals here," he said. “They woke me up with their barking, or I’d be sleeping yet. I heard them when I drove in last night. They were the first warning that I was on a lee shore. It’s a rookery, the kind of a thing I’ve hunted for years. Thanks to my brother Death, I’ve lighted on a fortune. It’s a mint. What’s its bearings ?” “Haven’t the least Idea,” I said. “But you ought to know quite closely. What were your last observations?” He smiled inscrutably, but did not answer. “Well, where’s all hands?” I asked. “How does it come that you are alone?” - ( , I was prepared for him again to set aside my question, and was surprised at the readiness of his reply. "My brother got me inside fortyeight hours, and through no fault of mine. Boarded me in the night with only the watch on deck. Hunters went back on. mq, He gave them a bigger lay. Heard him offering it. Did it right before me. Of court© the crew gave me the go-by. Thatwas tote expected. All hands went over the side, and there I was, marooned on my own vessel. It was Death's turn, and it’s all in the family anyway.” “But how did you lose the masts?" I asked.

orar and examine those tan yards,” he said, pointing to where the miszen rigging should have been. “They have been cut with a knife!" I exclaimed. “Not quits,” he laughed. “It was a neater job. Look again.” 1 looked. The lanyards had been almost severed, with Just enough left to hold the shrouds till some severe strain should be put upon them. “Cooky did that,” he laughed again. “I know, though I didn't spot him at it. Kind of evened up the score a bit." "Good for Mugridge!” I cried. “Yes, that’s what I thought when everything went over the side. Only I said it on the other side of my mouth.” "But what were you doing while all this was going on?” I asked. "My best, you may oe sure, which wasn’t much under the circumstances.” , I turned to re-examine Thomas Mugridge’s work. "I guess I’ll sit down and take the sutflShine.” I heard Wolf Larsen saying. There was a hint, just a slight hint, of physical feebleness in his voice, and it was so strange that I looked quickly at him. His hand was sweeping nervously across his face, as though he were brushing away cobwebs. I was puzzled. The whole thing was so unlike the Wolf Larsen I had known., “How are your headaches?” I asked. “They still trouble me,” was his answer. "I think I have one coming on now.” He slipped down from his sitting posture till he lay on the deck. Then he rolled over on his side, his head resting on the biceps of the under arm, the forearm shielding his eyes from the sun. I regarding him wonderingly. “Now’s your chance, Hump,” he said. “I don’t understand,” I lied, for 1 thoroughly understood. “Oh, nothing,” he added softly, as If he were drowsing; “only you’ve got me where you want me.” “No, I haven’t," I retorted; “for I want you a few thousand miles away from here." He chuckled, and thereafter spoke no more. He did not stir as I passed by him and went down into the cabin. I lifted the trap in the floor, but for some moments gazed dubiously into the darkness of the lazaretto beneath. I hesitated to descend. What if his lying down were a ruse? Pretty, indeed, to be caught there like a rat I crept softly up the •ompanionway and peeped at him. He was lying as I had left him. Again I went below; but before I dropped into the lazaretto I took the precaution of casting down the door in advance. At least there would be no lid to the trap. But it was all needless. I regained the cabin with a store of Jams, seabiscuits, canned meats, and such things—all I could carry—and replaced the trap door. (TO BE CONTINUED.)

HOW NERVES CONTROL HABIT

System Must Be Trained to Follow Called-For Motions Along a Certain Path. Those who think a habit is just something you remember —that is, is purely a mental proposition, are mistaken. Habit is a question of mechanics as much as the smooth drawing of a piston rod. Habit is the action of nerve motions along a beaten path. A muscle somewhere in the body contracts and a nerve moves because it cannot help iL and so on until the process is complete, and the thing we call habit is done. There are as many of these paths in the nervous system as there are habits. The impression which one nerve center receives awakens another and the whole path of the action is traveled over. The first time the action is performed the nerve centers do not awaken their successors readily. For this reason some things are hard to learn. Everything that employs a great many nerve centers is hard to learn, because the path must be worn, the nerve centers trained to act in sequence. Once they are trained the habit is formed. The second call upon them is easier than the first, the third easier than the second, etc.

Quite So.

Mr. Harry Tate, who is to appear in the new revue at the London Hippodrome, can be as witty off the stage as he is on; but there was one occasion at least when he met his match. Seeing a number of small boys busily engaged in asking one another riddles, Mr. Tate thought he would give them a poser. Going up to one of the lads he asked: “What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen?” “Time it was taken to the clockmaker’s to be mended,” answered the urchin promptly. —Exchange.

French Colonial Possessions.

The French possession of Indo-China comprises the colony of Cochin-China, the protectorates of Cambodia, Annam, Tonkin and Laos, and the territory of Kwong-Chow-Wan, leased from China —an area embracing approximately 310,000 square miles. The population is estimated at 18,000,000. of which about 35,000 are Europeans, the rest being natives, savage tribesmen. Chinese, Malays, and Hindoos. The principal city as wejl as the principal port of entry is Saigon, Cochin-China. There are now 1,378 miles of railroad operated in Indo-China.

CRUISING for ALASKAN BIRDS

STUCK IN THE ICE OFF BARROW

An INTERESTING account of the birds observed during a trip in Alaska has been published by the Smithsonian institution, as reported by F. Seymour Hersey, who was in the field for A. C. Bent, collecting data and photographs for the completion of the “Life Histories of North American Birds." Leaving Seattle on the revenue cutter Bear, the party steamed northward through the “inside passage,” where the scenery was delightful all the way to Ketchikan. From that point the Bear passed through Dixon’s entrance and headed for Unalaska. As they neared Unimak pass various members of the tubinares, or tube-nosed birds, were noticed, together with sooty shearwaters, petrels and albatrosses. As they approached the pass the number of birds increased to a point almost beyond belief. As far as the eye could see masses of birds were bedded on the water; murres and puffins were everywhere. “It was utterly Impossible to form any definite estimate of the number of birds seen,” says the author; “hundreds of thousands does not exaggerate their abundance.” The ship seems to ?iave literally plowed its way through them. The Bear lay at Unalaska three days, during which time Mr. Hersey collected a number of species peculiar to that locality. After touching atßt. George and St. Paul islands, they proceeded on to Nome, which port the ship did Dot actually reach on account of the ice, but anchored out in the stream and Dent the mail ashore by dog teams.

To the Yukon in Open Boat At St. Michael Mr. Hersey left the Bear and made arrangements with the owner of a small open power boat to carry him and his outfit to the mouth of the Yukon river. They went through the so-called “canal” between St. Michael island and the mainland, but encountered a severe storm which forced them to land and encamp for three days. Birds were plentiful in the neighborhood of the camp and Mr. Hersey employed the time to good advantage, securing many specimens of eggs. Proceeding onward, they arrived at the mouth of the Yukpn and established their headquarters at the wireless station, eight miles from the native village of Kotlik. The country all around is reported very flat, making a safe feeding ground for the little brown cranes and geese, since it was impossible to approach them unobserved. In describing It, Mr. Hersey says: “So bare and level Is the country that a photograph of the river, taken from the shore, shows the opposite bank as nothing but a straight line, such as might be made across the print with a ruler and a coarse stub pen.” Here the author remained during the greater part of the breeding season. He found pintails and several species! of shorebirds breeding abundantly; gulls, terns and jaegers common, and redpolls, Alaska yellow wagtails, willow- ptarmigan and Alaska longspurs also well represented in this region. Delayed in the Ice Off Barrow. Later in the summer he returned to Nome and again embarked on the Bear, which stopped at many points along the coast, among which were Golovin bay, Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Dyer, Point Franklin and Barrow. Before reaching Barrow they encountered considerable ice and were delayed ten days en route. At Barrow, the northernmost point of this trip, the ice conditions were so bad-they only remained long enough to land the mail and take aboard several men who had been caught in the ice the previous season ami obliged to winter at Barrow. Among the newcomers was W. S. Brooks of the Polar Bear party, who had been collecting for the Museum of Comparative Zoology. As soon as the ship was out of the Ice her course was changed to west and an effort was made to reach Vr range! island,' where the shipwrecked crew of the Karluk was known to have wintered, but trying for ten days in fog, snow and -general bad weather, they gave it up and put back to Nome for coal, stopping at several places on the way. Mr. Hersey

left the Bear at Nome and took passage on the steamship Victoria to Seattle. It is interesting to note the fact that Mr. Hersey found the Aleutian tern, which has always been scarce and which was recently thought to be extinct. Altogether he encountered about one hundred of them and collected several specimens. This bird is larger and much darker than the common Arctic tern and has a peculiar white forehead. Another rare bird mentioned is Fisher's petrel, once represented in museum collections by a single sped-* men, and now by only three or four. Although they have been observed frequently, they are hard to collect and their nesting places are not known. The Aleutian sparrow is one of the most interesting birds seen, being one of the twenty or more varieties of this family that cover the United States from east to west, occurring in British America and Alaska as well. In the islands of Alaska it reaches its greatest development, being very much larger than the ordinary North American sparrow and sometimes as large as a catbird. Even the barn swallow was seen on the trip; this bird is a true migratory bird, traveling from this point as far south as Argentina and Chile In the winter months.

ENGLISH CORPORAL A SLEUTH

Officer Attended Meeting of Men Who Were Trying to Evade Conscription. Corporal Ayres of the Queen's West Surrey regiment described at the Relgate military tribunal how he managed to gain admission to a’'private meeting held in a large house in a fashionable portion of the town, at which there were present a number of young men. It had come to his knowledge, the corporal added, that meetings were held for the deliberate purpose of obstructing the military service act. The young men and the host quoted Scripture to prove that it was against the will of Christ to take up arms, and he cited Scripture to prove the contrary. He came away thoroughly convinced that the gathering was for the purpose of assisting* the young men to get out of doing military service. A young man of twenty-four, a grocer’s assistant, the applicant for exemption on conscientious grounds, declined to say if the meeting, which he had attended, was held for the purpose of assisting people to formulate claims for exemption. The mayor asked: “You say you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, apd yet you will not tell the truth?’’ “If you accuse me of telling a lie I refuse to argue with you," the applicant replied. Exemption was refused. The mayor remarked that the young man was evidently suffering from a disordered mind. —London Telegraph.

Clever Beggars.

Crust throwers, those strangely clever beggars who carry dry bread, throw It into the streets at the psychological moment and hurl themselves on it with wild cries, object, sympathy and alms, have rivals In the soap eaters, wtib are said to ruin their health by the diet tor the purpose of gaining sympathy and undeserved charitable assistance. Two soap eaters recently arrested in New York were asked what ailed them and each shoved forth a feebly held card, one reading, “A Victim of Tuberculosis" and the other, “Help—Deaf, Dumb and Starving.” Their pockets -#ere well lined with small silver coins.

Conveniences for Travelers.

In order to keep its patrons advised of the whereabouts of the street cars they may be awaiting, the Durham (N. C.) Traction company -has arranged for the erection of large clock faces at street intersections. Instead of hours and minutes being displayed, as on the ordinary clock, the hands will follow the car on its trips, showing tie prospective passenger what his approximate wait will be.